Hope of the Phoenix (14/?)
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Remus/Petunia
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his entire world belong to J.K.Rowling. I am just borrowing them for a while for no profit. Blast!
A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed the previous chapter! I love getting reviews! And a big thank you to my beta Tsuchi, who suggested the ending to the last chapter...I was really stuck!
To Mystical Witch: Thank you for your review! I read over the chapter again, and I could see where you might have got the impression that the Americans weren't willing to fight in the war on terror... which wasn't at all what I was trying to say! Of course, the Americans have been in the front for a long time! The reason why they seem reluctant in my fic has to do with the nature of international diplomacy, and Petunia's lack of understanding of it. With diplomacy, you don't agree to everything in one afternoon; you play hardball, negotiate. Petunia, however, is not a diplomat; she is a housewife. She expects the Americans to agree to help right away, and when they play the diplomatic games; she feels that they are avoiding the issue. It has more to do with Petunia's misunderstanding of politics than any particular statement about the Americans involvement in the war on terror (though of course, while they were involved before 9/11, the fact remains that terror, wasn't as much a priority for the Clinton administration as it is for Bush...not a criticism, just a fact which I have tried to include in my fic!). I have altered Chapter 13 slightly to try and make that clearer, as I certainly didn't mean to imply that the Americans weren't interested in fighting terror!
Anyway, thank you all for your reviews, and on with Chapter 14!
Chapter 14: Another Christmas at St.Mungo's
As the darkness slowly receded from her eyes, Petunia felt a terrible pounding in head; she hadn't noticed it before...she supposed she must have been unconscious. She felt a soft bed beneath her, and plump pillows under her head...patches of white, and splashes of colour were slowly emerging before her tired eyes. She felt incredibly dizzy... had she been drinking? She hadn't had a hangover since she was a teen-ager...She felt a warm pressure in her right hand, someone was holding her hand? She turned over, trying to look at whomever it was, groaning as the sudden motion sent shock waves through her head- and gave a surprised gasp. It was Remus. He was holding her hand. Remus, who had avoided and ignored her since the previous summer, who she hadn't seen since the dreadful summer twenty years ago...who had shouted at her... was holding her hand, with a frightened look on his face she had never thought to see again.
"Remus!" she managed to gasp out. From somewhere else in the room, she heard Molly's happy whisper, "Oh, Arthur, she's awake!" She turned her focus to take in the rest of the room, and she noticed how full in really was, Molly was holding Mr. Weasley's hand, and Tonks, with her usual wild hair, was looking concerned, next to Percy, who chose that moment to move forward and clasp her other hand...
As she looked around at their ring of concerned faces, the memories of what had happened flood back...the Dementors, the Death Eater, Remus lying stiff on the ground, the Portugese cleaning lady...
"Ms. Albright! The Death Eater must have got her! And the cleaning lady! Are they alright?" she demanded urgently of the others, sitting up on the bed.
"Petunia, relax" Percy said gently. "They're fine."
"Yeah," Tonks grinned, "I was able to get to Ms. Albright in time...she signed the treaty, by the way. She said she'd intended to sign it anyway, but that people would have been upset if she'd agreed too easily...but they couldn't ignore an attack on the Secretary of State! We modified her memory of course...she thinks it was just an ordinary terrorist attack."
"But what about the cleaning lady! That brave woman! Were you able to save her too?" she asked, desperately.
"Oh, yes," Tonks smiled, "she's fine!" Then she got a look of intense concentration on her face...and Petunia found that the Portugese cleaning lady was back again!
"Thank God," Petunia said, and found that she needed to lie down again; her head was spinning worse than ever...and she found that the brief effort of sitting up had winded her completely. She hadn't felt this weak since she had spent 36 hours in labour...and she wasn't as young as she had been then...
"What happened?" she asked, when she was lying down again. "What did the Death Eater do to me?"
"He used the Sanguineus Curse," said Remus in a low voice, "a terrible form of Dark Magic. It makes the victim bleed, and they keep bleeding until the counter-curse is performed...and it's a very difficult one, that only the most highly trained Medi-wizards and witches can perform. You lost a lot of blood. If Tonks hadn't been there, posing as the cleaning lady...you probably would have died."
"But you were there..."
"...but I couldn't do anything, not till the Body Bind Curse was removed. I wasn't able to protect you..." He sounded terribly bitter, and Petunia squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting manner. She carefully removed her left hand from Percy's, and reached across to her right side, wincing internally at the weakness in her arms, and lifted his chin, so that he had to look at her.
"Hey," she said softly, "its alright, you saved us from the Dementors, and you tried to protect us. Thank you."
She looked at him earnestly, trying to convince him with her eyes that she was sorry for the things she'd done in the past; that she didn't blame him for anything he was blaming himself for; that she wanted to start again.
She was vaguely aware that Molly was ushering the others out of the room; she could here the clatter as Tonks tripped over a chair, and Percy's impatient, whispered demand to know why they had to leave, he wanted to know about how the negotiations had gone... and then they were alone in the silent room, alone, with the beating of their hearts and the thudding of her head...She slowly let her arm fall again, tired from holding it up.
Remus stared at the bed-sheets for a few moments, then said quietly, "I thought I'd lost you, again. You were bleeding away, and I couldn't do anything but watch. I couldn't save Sirius, or Lily or James...and now I couldn't save you, either." He looked up at her suddenly, his amber eyes locking with her blue ones, "And it didn't matter, anymore, that you'd hurt Harry, that you'd hurt Lily, that you'd hurt me; because someone I loved was dying, and I couldn't help..." He looked away.
"Oh, Remus," she said softly. "I can't take back all that I've done over the years...I wish I could. But I'm not dead, and I'd like to make a new start, if you'll let me. I'd like to try and make up for all the years I've wasted with my anger, hatred and stupidity..." She swallowed, and, with effort, guided his chin so that he was looking at her once more. "Could we, ... could we start again, please?"
Remus looked at the weak, frail woman lying on the white bed beside him, her blond hair splayed out across her pillow, her blue eyes earnest. Even the feel of the wedding ring against his hand didn't make him angry anymore...she wanted him back, and then he wouldn't be alone anymore...He nodded, feeling a wave of wonder at the joy that suddenly filled Petunia's blue eyes, and he brought his left hand up to caress her face.
"Aunt Petunia!" cried a young voice behind them, just as Remus saw a streak of black robes and tousled black hair; and Harry had scrambled up to them, gathering his aunts form in a huge hug. Remus squeezed her hand again, and quietly left the room to join the others in the hall...this was a time for family...
A few days later, the Order, along with Percy, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, had gathered in Petunia's room once more. Molly had brought the stack of presents from Petunia's room, as well as all of her own, and they had a loud and joyful Christmas while the pictures of famous healers looked on disapprovingly.
Petunia looked on, slightly anxiously, as Harry opened his gift from her. Despite the care she had put into it, she felt a wave of anxiety as he pulled out the book...
"A photo album?" He asked, unsure.
She nodded, "Molly escorted me back to my old house...I'd buried them in the back yard, but they were still alright...I thought you'd like to see the Lily I knew, and your grandparents...
Harry flipped through the book. It was full of Muggle photographs; two adults- one with bright green eyes, holding two baby girls. Those same girls, hand in hand, at the beach, the park, the woods. One blond, the other red-haired...laughing, hugging, arms linked. Wearing vibrant colours...then later, the same girls, older now, teenagers, with four boys in wizard robes...couples: the blond girl with the honey-haired boy, the red- head with a black-haired boy, bespectacled and wild haired...and then, nothing... the pictures stopped.
Harry felt his throat constrict, and he gave Aunt Petunia a tearful smile, and hugged her. It was a bittersweet present...joy that his aunt had kept the pictures...grief for the world that was gone...
"I thought," she said, gently, "that we could fill the last few pages with our own family pictures..." She handed a camera to the nurse who had come in to check her bandages, and had her take a picture of the group gathered around the hospital bed.
"Merry Christmas, everyone" said Aunt Petunia
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Remus/Petunia
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his entire world belong to J.K.Rowling. I am just borrowing them for a while for no profit. Blast!
A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed the previous chapter! I love getting reviews! And a big thank you to my beta Tsuchi, who suggested the ending to the last chapter...I was really stuck!
To Mystical Witch: Thank you for your review! I read over the chapter again, and I could see where you might have got the impression that the Americans weren't willing to fight in the war on terror... which wasn't at all what I was trying to say! Of course, the Americans have been in the front for a long time! The reason why they seem reluctant in my fic has to do with the nature of international diplomacy, and Petunia's lack of understanding of it. With diplomacy, you don't agree to everything in one afternoon; you play hardball, negotiate. Petunia, however, is not a diplomat; she is a housewife. She expects the Americans to agree to help right away, and when they play the diplomatic games; she feels that they are avoiding the issue. It has more to do with Petunia's misunderstanding of politics than any particular statement about the Americans involvement in the war on terror (though of course, while they were involved before 9/11, the fact remains that terror, wasn't as much a priority for the Clinton administration as it is for Bush...not a criticism, just a fact which I have tried to include in my fic!). I have altered Chapter 13 slightly to try and make that clearer, as I certainly didn't mean to imply that the Americans weren't interested in fighting terror!
Anyway, thank you all for your reviews, and on with Chapter 14!
Chapter 14: Another Christmas at St.Mungo's
As the darkness slowly receded from her eyes, Petunia felt a terrible pounding in head; she hadn't noticed it before...she supposed she must have been unconscious. She felt a soft bed beneath her, and plump pillows under her head...patches of white, and splashes of colour were slowly emerging before her tired eyes. She felt incredibly dizzy... had she been drinking? She hadn't had a hangover since she was a teen-ager...She felt a warm pressure in her right hand, someone was holding her hand? She turned over, trying to look at whomever it was, groaning as the sudden motion sent shock waves through her head- and gave a surprised gasp. It was Remus. He was holding her hand. Remus, who had avoided and ignored her since the previous summer, who she hadn't seen since the dreadful summer twenty years ago...who had shouted at her... was holding her hand, with a frightened look on his face she had never thought to see again.
"Remus!" she managed to gasp out. From somewhere else in the room, she heard Molly's happy whisper, "Oh, Arthur, she's awake!" She turned her focus to take in the rest of the room, and she noticed how full in really was, Molly was holding Mr. Weasley's hand, and Tonks, with her usual wild hair, was looking concerned, next to Percy, who chose that moment to move forward and clasp her other hand...
As she looked around at their ring of concerned faces, the memories of what had happened flood back...the Dementors, the Death Eater, Remus lying stiff on the ground, the Portugese cleaning lady...
"Ms. Albright! The Death Eater must have got her! And the cleaning lady! Are they alright?" she demanded urgently of the others, sitting up on the bed.
"Petunia, relax" Percy said gently. "They're fine."
"Yeah," Tonks grinned, "I was able to get to Ms. Albright in time...she signed the treaty, by the way. She said she'd intended to sign it anyway, but that people would have been upset if she'd agreed too easily...but they couldn't ignore an attack on the Secretary of State! We modified her memory of course...she thinks it was just an ordinary terrorist attack."
"But what about the cleaning lady! That brave woman! Were you able to save her too?" she asked, desperately.
"Oh, yes," Tonks smiled, "she's fine!" Then she got a look of intense concentration on her face...and Petunia found that the Portugese cleaning lady was back again!
"Thank God," Petunia said, and found that she needed to lie down again; her head was spinning worse than ever...and she found that the brief effort of sitting up had winded her completely. She hadn't felt this weak since she had spent 36 hours in labour...and she wasn't as young as she had been then...
"What happened?" she asked, when she was lying down again. "What did the Death Eater do to me?"
"He used the Sanguineus Curse," said Remus in a low voice, "a terrible form of Dark Magic. It makes the victim bleed, and they keep bleeding until the counter-curse is performed...and it's a very difficult one, that only the most highly trained Medi-wizards and witches can perform. You lost a lot of blood. If Tonks hadn't been there, posing as the cleaning lady...you probably would have died."
"But you were there..."
"...but I couldn't do anything, not till the Body Bind Curse was removed. I wasn't able to protect you..." He sounded terribly bitter, and Petunia squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting manner. She carefully removed her left hand from Percy's, and reached across to her right side, wincing internally at the weakness in her arms, and lifted his chin, so that he had to look at her.
"Hey," she said softly, "its alright, you saved us from the Dementors, and you tried to protect us. Thank you."
She looked at him earnestly, trying to convince him with her eyes that she was sorry for the things she'd done in the past; that she didn't blame him for anything he was blaming himself for; that she wanted to start again.
She was vaguely aware that Molly was ushering the others out of the room; she could here the clatter as Tonks tripped over a chair, and Percy's impatient, whispered demand to know why they had to leave, he wanted to know about how the negotiations had gone... and then they were alone in the silent room, alone, with the beating of their hearts and the thudding of her head...She slowly let her arm fall again, tired from holding it up.
Remus stared at the bed-sheets for a few moments, then said quietly, "I thought I'd lost you, again. You were bleeding away, and I couldn't do anything but watch. I couldn't save Sirius, or Lily or James...and now I couldn't save you, either." He looked up at her suddenly, his amber eyes locking with her blue ones, "And it didn't matter, anymore, that you'd hurt Harry, that you'd hurt Lily, that you'd hurt me; because someone I loved was dying, and I couldn't help..." He looked away.
"Oh, Remus," she said softly. "I can't take back all that I've done over the years...I wish I could. But I'm not dead, and I'd like to make a new start, if you'll let me. I'd like to try and make up for all the years I've wasted with my anger, hatred and stupidity..." She swallowed, and, with effort, guided his chin so that he was looking at her once more. "Could we, ... could we start again, please?"
Remus looked at the weak, frail woman lying on the white bed beside him, her blond hair splayed out across her pillow, her blue eyes earnest. Even the feel of the wedding ring against his hand didn't make him angry anymore...she wanted him back, and then he wouldn't be alone anymore...He nodded, feeling a wave of wonder at the joy that suddenly filled Petunia's blue eyes, and he brought his left hand up to caress her face.
"Aunt Petunia!" cried a young voice behind them, just as Remus saw a streak of black robes and tousled black hair; and Harry had scrambled up to them, gathering his aunts form in a huge hug. Remus squeezed her hand again, and quietly left the room to join the others in the hall...this was a time for family...
A few days later, the Order, along with Percy, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, had gathered in Petunia's room once more. Molly had brought the stack of presents from Petunia's room, as well as all of her own, and they had a loud and joyful Christmas while the pictures of famous healers looked on disapprovingly.
Petunia looked on, slightly anxiously, as Harry opened his gift from her. Despite the care she had put into it, she felt a wave of anxiety as he pulled out the book...
"A photo album?" He asked, unsure.
She nodded, "Molly escorted me back to my old house...I'd buried them in the back yard, but they were still alright...I thought you'd like to see the Lily I knew, and your grandparents...
Harry flipped through the book. It was full of Muggle photographs; two adults- one with bright green eyes, holding two baby girls. Those same girls, hand in hand, at the beach, the park, the woods. One blond, the other red-haired...laughing, hugging, arms linked. Wearing vibrant colours...then later, the same girls, older now, teenagers, with four boys in wizard robes...couples: the blond girl with the honey-haired boy, the red- head with a black-haired boy, bespectacled and wild haired...and then, nothing... the pictures stopped.
Harry felt his throat constrict, and he gave Aunt Petunia a tearful smile, and hugged her. It was a bittersweet present...joy that his aunt had kept the pictures...grief for the world that was gone...
"I thought," she said, gently, "that we could fill the last few pages with our own family pictures..." She handed a camera to the nurse who had come in to check her bandages, and had her take a picture of the group gathered around the hospital bed.
"Merry Christmas, everyone" said Aunt Petunia